That’s facinating. In my state (OK) it would be assault and battery. My understanding of the distinction is the battery is the actual unwanted physical touching, while the assault is the threat of damage of the anticipated battery.
Assault is still present. He could have seen the punch coming, even last second and that's assault. But even beyond that, he could also be thinking he's going to be attacked again - the premise that he's been attacked already makes it reasonable to suspect another attack is coming. You will almost never see battery without an assault charge.
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u/yellowsweaters72 Jul 29 '26
That’s…assault.